January 2016: 220,000 Points, 4 Cards

January 2016: 220,000 Points, 4 Cards

2015 Ended strong, with over a million miles and points earned via credit card sign-ups. To match that, or overcome that, I need to start off 2016 strong.

I managed to get my hands on a coveted American Express Business Platinum 100,000 sign-up bonus. Because AMEX merges credit pulls, I was also able to apply for two more cards: the Hilton Surpass (80,000 points), and Everyday Preferred (15,000).

Finally, because Bank of America allows you to earn the bonus on their products multiple times a year, I applied for another Alaska Airlines card, 25,000 points.

Unfortunately, all of these cards carry an annual fee. The Alaska cards annual fee is $75, but there is a backdoor method to receive 25,000 bonus points and $100 statement credit after spending $1,000 in three months, giving you a net gain of $25.

Here’s the total haul and rationale for applying for each card:

Card

Sign-Up

Minimum Spend Requirement

Annual Fee

Other Benefits

Rationale

Everyday Preferred

15,000

$1,000

$95

30 purchases a month = 50% bonus up to $6,000 a calendar year

After one year can downgrade to no-fee version and still have the ability to earn and transfer Membership Rewards to travel partners.

Platinum Business

100,000

10,000

$450, but $200 airline credit

Nothing particularly useful for me except the $200 airline fee credit

After earning the bonus, may cancel card for pro-rated annual fee.

Hilton Surpass

80,000

3,000

$75

Access to more AMEX offers

Hilton Diamond this year; Hilton points are easy to come by & this card will jumpstart my Hilton balance.

Alaska Airlines

25,000

None

$75

$100 statement credit after spending $1,000

Very useful points (and easy to earn)

Here are non-affiliated links for these above offers, except the Platinum Business, which is targeted: